Heretofore a wide variety of outdoor shelters for housing and protecting domesticated animals (e.g. dogs, felines, etc.) against inclimate weather conditions have been proposed. Domesticated animal shelters have heretofore been constructed from pre-cut outdoor grade plywood panels comprised of a floor panel, a roof section, and four sidewall panels (including front and rear sidewall panels the former of which is fitted with an entryway) and a matching pair of sidewalls panels. Insulative materials such as foamed polymeric, fiberglass, blown insulation, etc. are generally unfit for use in the construction of such domesticated animal shelters. Foamed insulative materials generally lack the necessary durability to protect the material from structural damage by the sheltered animal.
The inability to effectively dissipitate moisture generated within the animal shelter presents another problem inherently plaguing attempts to incorporate insulative materials into the design and construction of conventional animal shelters. An excessively humid environment within the shelter creates an unhealthy and unsafe shelter environment for small domesticated animals. Such an unhealthy humid environment often leads to joint disease (e.g. arthritis and associated muscular and bone diseases), decay of the structural components, offensive odors and other health hazards to the sheltered animal. Without the need to dispense energy for warmth, the animal can use such energy to ward off disease (e.g. bacterial, fungi, infections, etc.). Consequently, existing animal shelters are primarily designed so as to simply shield the animal against direct exposure to the external environment but afford little, if any, protection towards providing a regulated and desirable habitat for the sheltered animal.
The problems currently associated with the inability to regulate and control the habitat for sheltered domesticated animals is aptly illustrated by owners of expensive hunting dogs within the sub-artic regions of northern United States and Canada. Such hunting dogs in the late fall and early winter months are often fielded from dawn to dusk during which time the hunting dogs expend considerable energy and become extremely dirty in the performance of exhaustive hunting tasks for their owners. The dog's general uncleanliness prevents the owner from temporarily sheltering the dog within the owner's living quarters. Consequently, upon return from the hunt, such hunting dogs are normally fed and sheltered outside. This common practice adversely affects both the general health and hunting life of the dog. The failure to promptly house animals within a warm shelter for a sufficient period of time to revitalize and stabilize the animal's system seriously impairs the animal's resistance against disabling diseases and aging infirmaties. Studies by authoritative experts within the veterinarian field indicate the average hunting dog's productive life is curtailed by at least two years by the deliterious effects these common practices have upon the dog's overall general health.
An outdoor shelter capable of providing a comfortable and warm habitat for a domesticated animal under such sub-artic conditions would significantly extend a dog's productive hunting life. There accordingly exists a long-felt need for an insulated domesticated animal shelter which would more effectively protect an animal against inclimate weather conditions and especially within those sub-artic regions susceptible to extreme seasonal changes. It would be of particular advantage, if it were possible, to provide a cost effective outdoor shelter which would afford a thermally controllable habitat for domesticated animals under sub-artic conditions. An insulated, thermally controllable animal shelter further equipped with means for effectively dissipitating unhealthful humid conditions from the habitat would represent a substantial departure and benefit over existing small animal sheltering practices and shelters.